Wouldnít we all like to have the secrets to wealth, happiness, and especially getting BIG and LEAN! Well let me tell you there are no magic pills or special powders that will deliver the results without you putting in the work. So you could say the secret is held within you and thatís how bad you want it, and how hard you are willing to work to achieve the goals you have set down.

The secret is getting down and dirty with the right diet, proper training and then comes those all important supplements that we see every other page in all the magazines. The secret is you need all three to make the progress and see the results you want.

First in my book comes diet. If you donít have a sound diet you wonít go anywhere or if you do you will hit a wall after a few weeks and will be stuck. The first thing you have to figure out when coming up with a diet is what is your goal? Lets say for example your goal is putting on size and gaining strength. I always tell people that itís harder to put on quality size then it is to cut up and get lean. Letís look at putting on some quality slabs of beef.

Generally speaking you want to keep your protein at 1-1.5 grams per pound, for example if your weigh 180lbs then you would need between 180-240 grams of protein a day. If you are on the lower end you will be close to a maintenance level where you will gain a little but not see a huge amount of muscle mass, as if you were doing 240 grams a day then you would be packing on some serious beef.

The next source of food is carbohydrates these are essential for energy production specifically muscle energy as I like to say. Carbs get stored in your body and also your muscle bellyís so they are able to perform work. This is why itís important to have some good carbs in your bulking up phase. If you are training intense then your carbs should be kept moderate to high. Meaning about 1.4 grams a pound up to 2.2 grams a pound, for our 180lbs person we are looking at 252-400 grams of carbs a day. Carbs should be taken first thing in the morning to get a good spike in your insulin and then again pre and post workout. I also like to have a slower releasing carb at night time before bed to help my body have something to eat on while I am sleeping and store up for the next day.

Last but definitely not least is fats. Good fats that is, the essential fats our bodies need. Essential fats will help burn the bad fat and is also used as a second energy source for the body. For our 180lbs guy we are looking at rounding his diet off with 63-70 grams of fat a day. This fat is coming from your oils, nut, and natural sources such as coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, almonds, pecans, peanut butter, flax seeds, fish oils, and fish such as salmon. These are all essential fats that need to be incorporated in the diet.

Looking back at the sample number we have here lets take a look at total calories. Taking the lower end numbers first we have, 180 grams of protein, 252 grams of carbohydrates, and 63 grams of fat which is equal to 2295 total calories. On the high end we had, 240 grams of protein, 400 grams of carbohydrates, and 70 grams of fat which all add up to a total of 3200 calories for the day. This is right around a 1000 calorie difference between the 2 numbers this is obviously a huge difference so if you chose to eat in that higher end you are going to grow but you also have to make sure you are eating healthy food because you are taking in much more calories then you are expending and this will cause a weight gain and we want to make sure we have good quality weight gain.

Now that we have the diet down lets focus on smashing some iron! There are so many different training theories out there, and honestly the best one is for you to decide which one works best for your body and your goals. Letís stay on the same goal as the diet and say we are training for mutant like muscle mass. The main goal here is to move as much weight with good technique as possible. What we want to do is put as much stress on the muscles force them out of their comfort zone, and make them DO WORK. I see a lot of people performing exercises but their muscle arenít really working they are just responding to what their brain is telling them to do. We have to make our muscle do the work instead of our neural system just responding to a movement itís accustom to doing and can do effortlessly. This means we need to add neural stimulation as well as muscular stimulation. This is done by forcing both to work out of their safety zones. I am going to throw 2 different training styles at you in this article.

First training style is something I have been working with for a while now and itís a grind it out get your nose in the dirt and DO WORK program! This is the program where you are going to force your muscle to WORK and your brain to activate your muscles to their fullest potential. What we do if perform a 2 days on 1 day off 2 days on 1 day off 1 day on split. The First day is a 3 body parts typically Chest, Back, and Shoulders, then the next day is Legs and arms. The 3rd day is off, letting the body recover and grow. But, remember you grow outside the gym, in the gym you tear down outside you build up! The 4th & 5th days are up to you this is a day where you need to focus on one body part a day that you need to bring up and this is not arms we will get to that. So if you have a weak back and shoulders then day 4 would be shoulders then day 5 back Day 6 is a rest day. The 7th day is when God rested but not you. You have already had 2 God only got one. The 7th day is arms the most beloved day of anyone who trains. Ok now we have the split laid out for you let talk about sets, reps, and rest.

Day 1 since we are hitting 3 body parts we are only performing 2 exercises per part. The exercises consist of 1 compound and 1 isolation then move on to the next body part, doing 6 sets of each exercise and 6-8 reps. We are shooting for 6 reps and they should be close to failure when you hit 6, if you get the 2 more those are bonus and if you complete 4 sets of 8 then you move up weight for your last 2 sets and shoot for 6. You are only resting 30-70 sec between sets too now longer we want to stay in that time zone, I suggest right around 45-60 this is enough time for muscle recovery but still hitting right in that perfect hypertrophy zone!

Day 2 everything is the same expect you are doing 3-4 exercises for legs and 2 for arms same number of sets and the same reps scheme applies. Legs you have a compound isolation for quads the compound is 6 sets isolation is 4, and a compound isolation for hams same sets here. Arms we are doing a compound for each thatís it.

Ok, now for your single body part days you will start with a compound for 6 sets and then isolation for 6 sets (same reps and rest as the rest). Then you will move on to a compound and isolation for 4 sets each.

There you go! Remember this is just a sample you can customize it to your liking. Just remember go heavy enough to make the muscle do the work.

This is just one of the programs I am going to outline the other is my DS/SS routine which will be discussed next month along with supplements in part 2 of the Secrets!

Until then Train insane to make the gain!!!
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Heath Ellenberger, C.P.T.Nutritionist, Master Personal Training Degree and Sports Performance Specialist. He resides in Pennsylvania. He is a up-and-coming bodybuilder and just graduated college with a degree in Adult Fitness and Nutrition. When he went on stage in his first competition, he took 3rd place! He's went up from there. He is also sponsored by Lana's Eggwhites. To learn more about Heath and what he has done in this industry, you may visit his website at myspace.com/Hbomb29